Zoo expansion gets tentative approval

SAN DIEGO - The San Diego City Council today tentatively
approved a plan by the San Diego Zoo that would expand zoo exhibits
and build a four- story underground parking structure at its
25-acre Balboa Park parking lot.

The project, the Park Boulevard Promenade, would also reorient
the zoo's main entrance, create a greenbelt and pedestrian walkway,
remove several surface parking lots, construct a zoo employee
parking lot and require the relocation of the park's existing
carousel and miniature train.

It was estimated that the city, which owns the land occupied by
the zoo, would need to raise as much as $300 million for its share
of the project, which includes the costs to build the 3,200- to
4,800-space parking structure.

Councilwoman Toni Atkins said the plan needs the council's
approval in order to pursue capital funding opportunities.

"Is the price tag going to be a shocker - yes," Atkins said.

The zoo would be responsible for the price of the new exhibits
and assume the underground parking structure's maintenance and
operation.

Before the project can advance, a financing plan must be
developed and approved by the council, city staff said. Public
hearings would also be necessary before the city can amend the
zoo's current lease.

"The reality of coming up with hundreds of millions of dollars
to build a parking structure are bleak at best," Councilman Michael
Zucchet said. "I do think the vision is good, I also am skeptical
it can ever be a reality."

Before the council voted unanimously to approve the plan, Mayor
Dick Murphy stressed it may be a couple years before the project is
started.

"I think we need to emphasize to the public that the
implementation of the Park Boulevard Promenade project cannot be
started until a financing plan is approved, which is probably a
couple years off," Murphy said.

However, Murphy said that "without a vision, and without a plan,
nothing will ever get achieved."

"This is the first step in what may be a long journey in
attempts to address the parking and circulation issues in Balboa
Park," he said.

More than 100 people showed at the regularly scheduled council
meeting to speak on the issue, with the majority supporting the
project.

"This fulfills our mission, our vision, not only for the zoo,
but for Balboa Park," said Douglas Myers, executive director of the
San Diego Zoological Society. "Without this project the future of
Balboa Park and its institutions will go static or extinct."

Opponents argued that the parking structure was "wildly
inappropriate," and that the project would disrupt the integrity of
the 88-year-old park.

"These are the best parcels in San Diego," Maggie Valentine told
the council. "There are some places in San Diego that need to be
left to the people."

Others argued that given the city's mounting financial problems
it wouldn't be fiscally prudent to fund such an expensive plan.

"I'm very concerned about concrete funding plans," a speaker
opposed to the project told the council. "What will we be expected
to pay?"